The WHF Film Club

[richardw42]

I think Bjork - Army of Me Remix from Sucker Punch is pretty unbeatable.

And the whole Sucker Punch soundtrack. Remixes and covers is about the best film soundtrack there is.

I thought The Runaways - Cherry Bomb was a good fit for Guardians of the Galaxy.

 

[strapped for cash]

I actually misread the question and eschewed pre-existing music, so might have feasibly included Stuck In The Middle With You from Reservoir Dogs and Back in Black from Iron Man. I also think I would retract Live and Let Die and replace it with Nobody Does It Better from The Spy Who Loved Me...

Interesting choices JD.

Pre-existing music is definitely allowed. Excluding songs written in other contexts limits choices considerably.

I find it's often fascinating to consider why specific songs were chosen, how these choices interact with other formal components of a given film, and what these choices might tell us about filmmaker intentions, narrative, character, themes, and politics.

I asked the question a) because it's a bit of fun; and b) because I think our choices are informed by perspectives on the film itself. If music in a film moves us, it's never the music alone that creates this effect, but combinations of formal elements that work in concert. In the clearest examples I think it's impossible to divorce the song from the wider filmic experience. Or perhaps we have a pre-existing relationship with a given song before coming to the film. Might the film then alter our perceptions of the song?

 

[strapped for cash]

I think Bjork - Army of Me Remix from Sucker Punch is pretty unbeatable.

I love the instrumental version of "Dancer in the Dark" that opens the film, though I'm less keen on the film itself (I think von Trier's a talented filmmaker in need of a fully coherent idea).

I'll be honest and say I haven't seen Sucker Punch, or heard the "Army of Me" remix. I'm sure it can be Googled!

 

[strapped for cash]

I'm not sure if you specifically wanted songs (with lyrics), or pieces of music/themes, but here are a few of my faves, though there's loads more I could have picked.

Van Morrison - Moondance (An American Werewolf In London)

Roy Budd - Main Theme (Get Carter)

Peter Gabriel - The Feeling Begins (The Last Temptation Of Christ)

Eris Weissberg & Steve Mandell - Dueling Banjos (Deliverence)

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (Superfly)

Enjoying the American Werewolf reference and who can forget the Deliverance banjo duel!

Are you a Last Temptation fan, or does the song come before the film in this case?

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I'm not sure if you specifically wanted songs (with lyrics), or pieces of music/themes, but here are a few of my faves, though there's loads more I could have picked.

Van Morrison - Moondance (An American Werewolf In London)

Roy Budd - Main Theme (Get Carter)

Peter Gabriel - The Feeling Begins (The Last Temptation Of Christ)

Eris Weissberg & Steve Mandell - Dueling Banjos (Deliverence)

Curtis Mayfield - Superfly (Superfly)

A few others that could well have been on my list:

Richard Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001 - A Space Odyssey)

Isaac Hayes - Main Theme (Shaft)

Peter Gabriel - Anything else from 'The Last Temptation Of Christ'

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Enjoying the American Werewolf reference and who can forget the Deliverance banjo duel!

Are you a Last Temptation fan, or does the song come before the film in this case?

I bought the soundtrack to 'Last Temptation..' before I saw the film, and I haven't seen the film for a long time (though I have the DVD somewhere). I have it on vinyl, and the first side is totally mindblowing.

I think I was introduced to 'Moondance' by the film, and it works brilliantly in the film (as does all the other music), and it's by far my favourite Van song.

You didn't mention the Get Carter theme, but it's an incredible sounding piece of music.

 

[John Duncan]

Interesting choices JD.

See also: MOR shite

I like Once a lot; I said in my review a long time ago that the songs belong, as in they are all performed in the context of the dramatic narrative, as opposed to being tacked on to make a 'musical'.

 

[strapped for cash]

You didn't mention the Get Carter theme, but it's an incredible sounding piece of music.

I know it well, both from the film and an Empire magazine CD from 2002 featuring songs from the movies.

In response to your question above, I'm excluding pre-existing classical music and scores. Popular music only with this one (so no "Adagio for Strings," etc.). We'll leave the classical conversation for another time!

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

A lot of people know the Morricone work on the Spaghetti Westerns, but he did some great work around that time on some Italian films. There are two good compilations of his work from that era, Mondo Morricone, and More Mondo Morricone. I have the second one, and it does contain some really interesting stuff.

 

[strapped for cash]

See also: MOR sh*te

That honestly wasn't the subtext to my earlier comment!

Excuse the delayed response, JD. (I was spam filtered, then I had to go out for the afternoon.)

I like Once a lot; I said in my review a long time ago that the songs belong, as in they are all performed in the context of the dramatic narrative, as opposed to being tacked on to make a 'musical'.

I agree. As I say, I don't think we can divorce song from film, particularly when songs are so integral to a film's narrative.

I'd argue that musical numbers are most commonly written to communicate narrative information and offer character insights, though they can function principally or exclusively as attractions (think Busby Berkeley's somewhat pervy if choreographically outstanding routines during the Hollywood musical's heyday).

 

[strapped for cash]

A lot of people know the Morricone work on the Spaghetti Westerns, but he did some great work around that time on some Italian films. There are two good compilations of his work from that era, Mondo Morricone, and More Mondo Morricone. I have the second one, and it does contain some really interesting stuff.

Love Morricone's spaghetti western stuff (Jill's theme from Once Upon a Time in the West makes the hairs on my arms stand up), though I appreciate his catalogue of work is far more extensive.

The same is true of Bernard Hermann (who people naturally associate with Hitchcock, while his Taxi Driver score is outstanding), though he worked on so much more besides. The recent Nissan advert borrows Hermann's whistling theme from Twisted Nerve (a somewhat mediocre 1960s British thriller), though I'm guessing most people recognise this from Kill Bill Vol. 1.

 

[richardw42]

Has everyone watched Tyrannosaur?

????????????

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Has everyone watched Tyrannosaur?

????????????

Just David left to confirm if he has.

 

[richardw42]

Have I missed some posts ? Only saw JDs.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Just David left to confirm if he has.

Yup

Sorry, just been a tad busy.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Have I missed some posts ? Only saw JDs.

Sorry, Mike needs to confirm as well. I haven't watched it again, as I watched it only a couple of months ago.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Mike, have you watched Tyrannosaur?

 

[expat_mike]

Mike, have you watched Tyrannosaur?

Not yet - if it helps, you can start the discussion if you want, and I shall avoid looking at this page for a couple of days.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Mike, have you watched Tyrannosaur?

Not yet - if it helps, you can start the discussion if you want, and I shall avoid looking at this page for a couple of days.

Thanks Mike.

It's over to David to start the discussion.

 

[Frank Harvey]

It's over to David to start the discussion.

First off, great film by Paddy Considine, with an excellent cast. Some great performances, particularly Peter Mullen. Despite Mullen doing a great job of portaying such a cruel, unsociable character, Considine seems to do a good job of making you feel sorry for him, even though (other than alcohol) we don't know exactly why he is like he is, but I'm presuming it is from his upbringing, which wasn't brought up in the film, except for stating that his dad was (and I'm paraphrasing here) 'not a nice person'. Presumably this lead to Joseph's alcoholism, as he stated he wasn't good to his wife when she was alive. I got a sense of mental illness too, particularly when he was sitting in the pub on his own, seemingly arguing with himself. This didn't seem a recurrent theme though, as most of what he did was down to being drunk.

For me, this film just goes to show that no matter what sort of education you have, what your upbringing was like, where you live, how well off you are, what job you have, what car you drive, or how nice a person you are, no one is immune to depression, sadness, alcoholism, etc etc. Unless you know a person really well, you have no idea what they might be going through, no matter how perfect you think their life is. It might have been taken a little too far with Hannah killing her husband, but I'll wager there are thousands of women out there that go through this type of physical and mental abuse on a daily basis, many just a whisker away from such a drastic release.

In Hannah and Joseph, you have two quite different characters at the opposite ends of the social and religious scale, but we see Hannah being dragged down, becoming more reliant on alcohol to get herself through the day.

During the film, you see the young boy Samuel, a seemingly decent boy despite his surroundings and the way he is treated. You can't help but think that his treatment is pushing him in the same direction as those around him. Regardless of whether that would be the case anyway, his disfigurement from the dog attack will change his life forever, and how other children (and adults when he is older for that matter) will treat him.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Thanks David. Has anyone else got any views?

 

[Frank Harvey]

You could also draw some parallels between Joseph and the dog, as the dog was the way it was because of the way it had been treated and brought up. Joseph even acknowledges that the dog's behaviour 'wasn't his fault' (the dog's) when the yob first threatens Joseph.

 

[richardw42]

I spent the first 40 mins or so really not liking this film, but I did warm to it although I didn't find it particularly outstanding.

Id initially dismissed Joseph as just an anti social, aggressive drunk. But the later showing of possible mental illness hinted his behaviour as a symptom of that, and perhaps the public in General could be more aware of this.

He seemed to have a very definite idea of injustice (rightly or wrongly) and this was a trigger point for him.

Kicking his dog after a visit to the bookies (backed a loser ?), the brick attack on the shop and the awful sentence he carried out on the staffy dog).

Although the film didn't show it, I assume he persuaded Hannah yo confess to the murder despite her going through obvious torture by her husband. I did get the feeling at the end that she was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Apart from the above, I pretty much agree with David's observations.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Though I watched the film relatively recently, my slightly addled brain hasn't retained enough detail to be able to join in fully with the discussion, so I don't have a great deal to add.

What I will add, is despite the subject matter, I enjoyed the film, and for a directing/writing debut, it's an excellent piece of work, one which may lead to genuine greatness.

 

[John Duncan]

I liked it a lot, though it reminded me a little uncomfortably of my father (though not to such an extent). I think the one thing that struck me was that a few years ago this film might have been considered 'uncompromising' - even pornographic - in its violence (physical, sexual, psychological), and yet now it seems almost...normal? Having just watched Cloud Atlas as well (thanks to Richard) and being surprised (though not revulsed) at the violence therein, it made me wonder - have we become inured to violence in film in all its guises?